Operation Metro Surge is fanning out far beyond the boundaries of the Twin Cities metro that the Trump administration says it’s targeting.
Most eyes, understandably, have been on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s activities in Minneapolis since an agent killed Renee Nicole Good in the city Wednesday. Already before this the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was open about Minneapolis being the “metro” referred to in the operation’s name, centering it as ground zero for the agency’s biggest immigration crackdown yet.
But as protests against ICE intensified in the Twin Cities over the weekend, so, too, did the agency’s presence in Greater Minnesota, with a flurry of reports coming in from Rochester, Mankato and other cities.
Related: Minnesota and the Twin Cities sue the federal government to stop the immigration crackdown
ICE’s scaled-up presence outside the Twin Cities has been particularly noticeable in southern Minnesota, said Ryan Perez, organizing director at COPAL, a Latino advocacy group.
“People get the misconception that that’s the whole operation,” he said of ICE in the Twin Cities. “It’s called Operation Metro Surge, but the reality is arrests are happening across the state.”
ICE descends on southern Minnesota
David Perdomo and observers in Rochester saw agents attempting to apprehend people in the immediate days after Good’s death. Near the city’s Ear of Corn Water Tower, he said, an officer appeared ready to break through a vehicle window with a hammer until constitutional observers arrived. Agents never presented a signed warrant to the person in question, who was ultimately allowed to leave.
Incidents like this are becoming more common in Rochester this year, said Perdomo, a local COPAL organizer. In response, groups are delivering food to families too afraid to leave their homes.
“This time most of the officers are identified as ICE police on their vests,” he said, a change from previous ICE activity in the city. “What hasn’t changed is that the cars they are using are unmarked.”
Rochester lawmakers acknowledged the increased presence of federal agents. Sen. Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester, released a statement saying she joined her colleagues in demanding ICE leave the city and state immediately. Rep. Luke Frederick, DFL-Mankato, did the same at a press conference Friday in Mankato.
“I will do everything I can with my colleagues to make sure that our values lead, and everything we can to reinforce the message that ICE does not belong in Minnesota,” Frederick said.
Administrators on a Greater Mankato ICE Watch page on Facebook spent the weekend posting about ICE agent and vehicle activity in Mankato, St. Peter, St. James and more southern Minnesota cities where sizable numbers of Hispanic and/or Somali residents call home. Locals submit tips about where agents are operating, what hotel they may be staying at and the usually out-of-state license plates they swap out on vehicles.
The goal is to alert people to ICE’s activities so vulnerable people can steer clear. A confirmed sighting prompts a request for volunteer observers to go and document it.
Likeminded groups have popped up around the state to do similar work since Trump took office. They’ve never been busier than over the last week.
Related: Did Kristi Noem’s comments after an ICE agent killed a Minneapolis woman lead to the agent’s identification?
A group based in Duluth, Twin Ports Rapid Response, is on high alert for federal agents. Curt Leitz, one of the volunteers who runs the group, has been following the ramp up in immigration enforcement in southern and central Minnesota and expects it to happen in his city before long.
“Everyone is kind of waiting for the second shoe to drop up here,” he said.
Although northern Minnesota doesn’t have as many large concentrations of migrant workers as other parts of the state, Leitz knows of reports around Duluth and the Iron Range. Given the number of federal agents deployed in Minnesota, Leitz said there’s no reason to expect they won’t come to Duluth.
ISAIAH, a community organizing group, organized the Friday press conference in Mankato, held across the street from Mankato East High School. Coinciding with a Rochester event, the messages at both were focused on keeping ICE out of schools. ICE agents caused chaos outside Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis hours after Good’s death.
Heather Bakke, a teacher in St. Peter, was with students on a field trip Friday when their phones started blowing up about ICE being in the city.
“Students on the field trip were worried about their siblings and friends back at school,” she said. “When I returned to school I could see many students in tears and walked past classrooms where students of color were huddled together wondering what they should do.”
ICE operations are taking a toll on classrooms, she said.
“Every day educators are walking into classrooms where there are empty seats,” she said. “We wonder if these students have been taken, or if they’re staying home out of hear, or if they’re staying home to take care of younger siblings since their parents are gone.”
Meeting the quota
Operation Metro Surge feels like a numbers game to Perez. The federal government sent 2,000-plus agents into a state with nowhere near the biggest immigrant population in the country.
DHS is using Minneapolis to brand the operation because it wants to portray the metro as crime infested, Perez said. To get the numbers that the Trump administration wants, though, it can’t limit itself to just the metro.
Local news outlets are covering ICE activity in Greater Minnesota, but some of it goes under the radar, Perez said. Most of it doesn’t break through in the Twin Cities when so much else is happening.
“The public narrative is focused on Minneapolis and within the Twin Cities, but activity has definitely, highly escalated in Greater Minnesota,” Perez said.
COPAL and the groups in Mankato and Duluth are able to alert communities to ICE operations because volunteer observers are on the ground submitting tips to them. Within minutes of a reported traffic stop in Mankato, the local ICE watch page had photos and descriptions of the incident.
Good’s killing sent a chilling message to observers around the state. Perez said brave people will continue to uphold the constitution and civil rights by making sure ICE follows the law.
“They’re playing that role in a place where politically it may be frowned upon,” he said of observers in Greater Minnesota. “They’re driving through the towns, talking with neighbors, having the backs of people.”
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